The role of venous return in critical illness and shock: Physiology

The role of venous return in critical illness and shock: Physiology. Critical care medicine, Jan 2013, Vol. 41(1), p.255-262.

Funk, D., et al.

http://journals.lww.com/ccmjournal/Abstract/2013/01000/The_Role_of_Venous_Return_in_Critical_Illness_and.28.aspx

The usual teaching of cardiac physiology focuses on left ventricular function. As a result of the wide array of shock states with which intensivists contend, an approach that takes into account the function of the venous system and its interaction with the right and left heart may be more useful. This two-part review focuses on the function of the venous system and right heart under normal and stressed conditions.